


Number Seven

by Heartbreakmosh (PompousPickle)



Category: Pro Wrestling NOAH
Genre: Gen, Insecurity, Introspection, Mentions of Ratel's, Tadasuke Love Hours
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:34:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29365584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PompousPickle/pseuds/Heartbreakmosh
Summary: The gang goes to Costco. Tadasuke thinks about a lot of things.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 5





	Number Seven

The first rule of Costco was that you are only allowed two guests per member, so they had to leave Nakajima behind. But since he wasn’t responding to the group’s LINE messages anyway, Tadasuke figured that he didn’t truly care. They proceeded with the plan anyway, using both Kitamiya and Tadasuke’s memberships to get in between the six of them. No one paid them any mind at the door though, and Tadasuke wondered if next time they’d be able to smuggle in Nakajima as well. 

The second rule of Costco was to not get separated. Which is why Tadasuke let out a small whine when everyone immediately went their own direction right out of the door. Both Kenoh and Tadasuke were left to wander around with the cart. And even then, Kenoh would remember something he needed and would stroll off. He would come back and gingerly place it in the corner of the cart, as though playing a careful game of tetris with everyone else’s haul. 

Not everyone was as careful. Soya and Kitamiya both came back with stacks of meat, dumping them into the basket haphazardly. Kenoh berated them for stacking beef with fish before Tadasuke sorted the meat himself with a laugh. Haoh knocked through the basics first and foremost, shoving a giant bag of rice into the bottom of the cart, kicking it into place before heading off again. Nioh would disappear for the longest stretch of time, coming back with anything from energy drinks to ice-cube trays shaped like pandas. 

“How do they keep finding us?” Tadasuke mused as he leaned against the cart handles, walking backwards as he pushed it around the huge store. “It’s not like we’re standing still.” He looked over at his only consistent companion and frowned a little. He wondered if they both stood out too much, two bleach-blonde men in a wholesale warehouse on a Monday evening. 

“We always know where you are.” Kenoh responded as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. He grabbed for the cart handles and pushed it forward, causing Tadasuke to stumble off the cart. He touched his hair gently as he regained balance, wondering if he was right on the nose. Maybe there were just too many blondes in Kongoh. 

But then Kenoh turned down the hair care aisle and started grabbing family size bottles of protein masks and moisturizer. He held out a large bottle of purple shampoo. “Oy. Is this alright?” 

Tadasuke blinked, taken aback by the sudden question. When he didn’t respond, Kenoh tried again, holding out the bottle with a hint of force. “If you don’t tone correctly, the color will get brassy. The others don’t have to worry about that shit, but the two of us do. What the fuck am I going to do with you? We’re getting this.” He put it into the cart with a shake of his head. Tadasuke laughed, and when he spotted a hint of a smile in Kenoh’s eyes, he felt pride well up in his chest. 

However, before Tadasuke could try to get a full laugh out of his leader, the others all came trickling back in, converging together almost by pure happenstance. Nioh was characteristically the last to arrive, chucking a stationary set into the basket, and Tadasuke saw his chance to rally the troops. 

“What samples have you guys tried?” Tadasuke leaned over the cart, casually starting up conversation. It was a staple, of course. Even when Tadasuke was in Texas, he found he could bond with others over certain universal constants. And among those constants were two key components: large quantities of low-priced beef and small quantities of free food. 

However, he was met with a surprisingly lukewarm reception. Soya hummed, thinking it over. “Didn’t really see anything that interested me. You guys?” Not really a surprise; Soya was agreeable, but stuck mostly to the basics in what he liked to eat. Which made sense, seeing that he had to eat a lot of it. Still, Tadasuke couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment. 

“I don’t usually pay attention to that kind of stuff. It doesn’t fill you up, and I usually get stuff at the food courts,” Nioh mused, and the others nodded on and off. Tadasuke hummed, wanting to disagree. That you could make a game of it, a contest. To trick as many of the employees as you could into giving you as much as they could. You could make a circuit of it, time it perfectly, and run around stuffing your face until you get sick. 

He thought of Yo-hey downing his 8th sample of microwavable pizza bagels, shoving the 9th into Hayata’s face with an impossibly wide grin. Hayata would always push it back, and Yo-hey would press on until it somehow landed into Daisuke’s lap. 

“Samples are just a ploy anyway.” Kenoh snorted, pulling Tadasuke away from his thoughts. “They always pick things they know you don’t need, and push them at you pointlessly. They’re never necessities, and never anything any human actually  _ wants _ . It’s rampant capitalism.” He stared at the cart while he spoke, as though dissecting everything inside, tilting his head as his eyes broke everything apart. 

Tadasuke leaned over the cart, following his gaze and swallowing down his disappointment, realizing distantly that it was somehow disappointment in himself. It was hard  _ not  _ to want to please Kenoh. Everyone in Kongoh felt it, even as they walked the giant aisles of the warehouse. It was never fun to fall flat in front of him, in the ring or otherwise. Tadasuke almost felt a little sick. 

It was nice they were all together again at least, Tadasuke decided, shaking off his feelings. That’s all that mattered. That was the rule, after all. 

Which made Tadasuke remember the third rule: always stick to the shopping list. Of which he realized that Kongoh had none. It was almost bizarre, everyone just tossing in items as they saw fit, as they each decided that they all needed it in bulk. Soya clearly liked fish. Everyone else seemed to like beef, except Nioh who preferred pork belly. There was no moderation from Kenoh, who merely held the cart and reorganized it as he saw fit, carefully placing every item in its place, putting every single mismatched preference together into perfect harmony. 

“Ah! Curry roux!” Haoh said with a start, after several minutes of everyone exploring together. He started to walk off on his own, before Masa grabbed onto his shoulder. 

“No? The hell is wrong with you?” He scoffed, gently tugging the smaller man back towards the cart. “You can make your own for way less and with way more variety.” 

“You make your own every time?” Soya asked, an eyebrow raised. “I’m impressed. I’m cool with buying some in bulk though. It’s faster.” 

“See?” Haoh gestured at Soya in thanks. “He gets it. You find a good block and you don’t need to mix it together every time. We’re in a hurry most nights.” Haoh tried to shake Masa off, shoving him lightly into the cart. 

Masa didn’t let off though, almost indignant at the insinuation that it was easier to take shortcuts when it came to cooking. “We don’t need it. It’s easy to make and I have a ton of spices back at my place.” 

“So... you’re cooking curry for all of us tonight?” Nioh piped in, a knowing and mischievous smile playing on the edge of his lips. 

“Absolutely not.” Masa immediately responded, almost too loudly, giving away the fact that he would certainly end up in the kitchen despite all arguments. 

Tadasuke heard another snort, and turned back towards the cart. Kenoh was watching, hand over his mouth, touching his nose, hiding his laughter. And Tadasuke suddenly felt incredibly far away. Like he was witnessing some sort of perfect moment encased in amber, and Tadasuke was on the outside of it, holding it in his hands. He had nothing to say, and nothing to add, and the cart was full of items that he had little part in. 

Somehow, Kongoh only bickered when they were all in perfect harmony. And even without a list the items seemed to come together in unison. Tadasuke had nothing to add to it, in the long run. His contributions were only out of place. If one were to rank all the members of Kongoh, Tadasuke idly wondered who would be Number Seven. 

“We have no alcohol yet.” 

The words surprised him even though they came out of his own mouth. He blinked, breaking his gaze away from the cart to look at everyone else. Haoh and Soya were already walking off, having won their argument and were currently talking about the different curry mixes they’ve tried. Masa, Nioh and Kenoh all looked over to the man, and Tadasuke suddenly felt the need to brush his hair away from his face. 

All traces of Kenoh’s smile were gone, and his eyes narrowed just slightly, as though Tadasuke were suddenly difficult to figure out. And Tadasuke hated that. He never thought he was particularly complicated, or needed his own set of rules. But now he wasn’t so sure. “It’s no good if we run out! I’ll go get some!” He finally offered, laughing even though he didn’t feel it. He had stuck by the cart all day; it was time for him to wander off alone as well, he decided. 

Kenoh nodded silently, letting him go. But Tadasuke only made it halfway to the back of the store before he noticed Masa was trailing behind him. 

“I’m here to keep you from going overboard,” Kitamiya offered with a shrug when Tadasuke turned around. He paused, allowing Masa to keep up, and they continued to the massive alcohol section side by side. “Apparently he thinks I’m the only one that can say no to you.” 

Tadasuke perked up a little at that, looking away from the rows upon rows of assorted bulk alcohol to grin at Kitamiya. “Plus you can help me carry things! Smart.” He tried not to think about how Kenoh though he needed a babysitter. He tried not to think about how he used to need to be the responsible one. 

Kitamiya only sighed, already resigning himself as Tadasuke grabbed for a massive bottle of sake. He pushed it into Kitamiya’s arms and wondered if  _ anyone  _ in Kongoh was going to tell him no. Like Harada would. He paused, looking the larger man over for any sign of resistance. 

Kitamiya only grunted, before turning the bottle over in his arms and looking at it, his classical features relaxing into a satisfied smile. “This is the kind that Nioh always drinks, yeah? Didn’t know they sold it in bulk. Grab something  _ you  _ like too though, for fuck’s sake.” He looked up at Tadasuke as he said it, but the smile didn’t drop. Tadasuke was stuck staring at him, awestruck by a feeling that he couldn’t quite place. 

When Tadasuke didn’t respond, Kitamiya corrected himself. “It’s not a bad thing, you know, putting your teammates before you. It’s just who you are. But you could stand to get some stuff for yourself.” 

_ Just who he was _ . 

Tadasuke smiled. Not his usual grin. Just a small smile, his eyes burning for a reason he couldn’t quite pinpoint. He turned quickly on the balls of his feet, brushing past Masa and towards the beer. He looked it over, pulling his hair into a low bun nervously. “Well in that case...what about Nakajima? We should think about him too. Have you messaged him?” 

That was rule four. To make sure no one was left out. 

“Seriously?” Masa sighed, as though Tadasuke weren’t the first to ask. “He didn’t want to come so he can deal with whatever we end up buying.” He opened up his arms as Tadasuke handed him a large case of Sapporo, before moving on to the next bay, looking for more beer to add to their constantly growing collection. 

Tadasuke wanted to argue. It was obvious how much Katsuhiko still cared about Masa, and how much Masa still wanted to care about Katsuhiko. But it wasn't his place to force things. It wasn’t his place to try to patch together a broken friendship. 

Tadasuke then realized that all the rules he had were written in an outdated book. To not get separated from Yo-Hey. To keep to the items of Harada’s list. To make sure Hayata felt included, so that he’d buy something he would eat. They were rules written to navigate other waters, and Tadasuke had already drowned. There were different rules in Kongoh now, but Tadasuke didn’t know them. It felt as though they were written long before he arrived. 

"Hey. Don't look at me like that. I'll send a message as soon as my arms are free." Kitamiya laughed, sounding a little helpless as Tadasuke looked at him. Masa raised his eyebrows and widened his smile, in a silent promise. All at once Tadasuke thought that Masa must also be the kind of guy who always cared deeply, but never knew how to truly be himself. Always trying to shine, but never finding the spotlight. Kongoh had given him that light. Kongoh gave him new rules. 

Tadasuke felt a grin break out on his face like sunshine after a storm. 

“So you’re weak to him too, huh?” Haoh’s voice chimed in as the Kongoh cart rounded the corner. He shook his head sadly as Kitamiya dumped the armfuls of alcohol that he had accumulated thanks to Tadasuke. Tadasuke bounced in behind, placing his own massive bottles into the cart. Kenoh looked each bottle over, raising his eyebrows with an unreadable expression, with Nioh and Soya both leaning over his shoulder to examine the haul as well. 

True to his word, Kitamiya then reached for his phone, his hands now free. He flashed it to Tadasuke, showing him the LINE contact on the screen, smiling slightly as if looking for approval. Tadasuke felt his heart rise to his throat, so quickly that it made him dizzy. 

Once, he had asked Daisuke if he ever thought about Kotoge. If he ever wanted to contact him. Daisuke ignored him, staring straight ahead into the future, as always. Tadasuke never had the kind of power to make him bend. Not like this. Never once. 

“The cart looks good,” Kenoh finally said, after giving every single box and bottle of alcohol an approving nod. “Much more complete now.” There was another tug on his lips, just on the edge of a full smile. “Thank you, Tadasuke.” 

Tadasuke laughed and pumped his fist. There was no sense in hiding his delight. Not around Kongoh. Not around people who wanted to see it. He thought that maybe the other three had found others who wanted to see their smiles too. He hoped they had. 

They walked towards the checkout line before Haoh suddenly stopped. He grabbed for Tadasuke’s arm first, dragging him to a stop and pointed. Nioh stopped with him, resting a hand on Tadasuke’s shoulder, heedless of the casual and friendly intimacy. Tadasuke blinked and followed Haoh’s gaze to a sample table. “Found one I want to try.” 

The rest caught up with them and stopped in front of the candy aisle, with a bright-eyed young woman standing in front of several cups of unmarked sweets, all labeled with numbers. “You randomized them?” Tadasuke was the first to speak up, looking over each cup. 

“I thought it’d be more fun that way!” The girl behind the table started to reach for sample cups. “If you like, I can pick one out for you all s-” 

“No. We’ll pick them ourselves.” Kenoh was as serious as ever, looking over each one carefully. Haoh was giving it just as much consideration, brow furrowed in concentration, and the two were quite a pair together. Haoh had mostly stuck to buying the most important things, Tadasuke realized, the basics. But he had never left the sweets-loving side of him behind. He had always said he stripped himself away when joining Kongoh, but in reality Haoh was still always the same person. He thought about Kitamiya. 

_ It’s just who you are _ . 

He grabbed for the little paper cup labeled number seven, and Kenoh reached for another with the same number scribbled on it.

“Hey now,” Soya laughed, grabbing another one of his own. “Doesn’t it make more sense if we grab different numbers, so we can try them all? No use in grabbing the same.” The others all seemed to agree, grabbing their own number as the worker laughed, clearly amused at the sight of these six men all splitting sweets between them with such seriousness. 

“Oy. They’re more than just numbers,” Kenoh quipped quickly, before turning to Tadasuke, holding up his cup in a toast, his head tilted just slightly. “Right?” 

Tadasuke tapped the little paper cup against Kenoh’s. “Yeah. They are.” Tadasuke chased the smile in Kenoh’s eyes. He chased the feeling of belonging somewhere, surrounded by men who valued what he gave them. He downed the small snack cake in a single bite, throwing back the cup like downing a shot. It was good, he decided. White chocolate with a hint of some sort of floral flavor. He licked his lips, trying to pin it down. 

Kenoh was much more careful, biting it from his fingers and letting it settle into his taste buds before finally reacting. “It’s good,” he said, voice low at first before turning towards the worker. “Oy. What is this? What aisle is it on?” 

Not a single one of them could hold back their laughter. “Rampant capitalism, huh?” Masa said under his breath, but Kenoh had clearly heard him loud and clear, bristling as he turned around. 

“It’s fine to treat yourself after a hard day's work!” He argued, voice rising in volume quickly and firmly, brimming in confidence, as though he had been ready for this argument for hours. “We’ve gotten a lot done, so I think it calls for a reward.” 

“Actually, we might have overbought,” Nioh said, handing his own sample cup over to Haoh, who scarfed it down eagerly and gratefully. “What are we planning on  _ doing  _ with all of this?” 

Tadasuke looked over the cart, in the way Kenoh had been doing all day. He would have stopped them if he thought it was too much, if he didn’t have some kind of idea or plan. He examined the contents. All the meat, all the vegetables, all the broth. 

“Let’s do hot pot tonight!” Tadasuke then said loudly, grabbing for the cart and pulling it down the sweets aisle to grab the snack cakes. It would be the final stop before the checkout line, he decided. And everyone seemed content to go with him, no one deciding for him, no one calling after him or giving him a label he didn’t ask for. “We got more than enough for chanko nabe.”

“Chanko. What are we? A fucking dojo?” Masa followed from behind. Tadasuke couldn’t see him, but the smile was clear in his voice. 

“Oy. Isn’t that why you said you bought the membership in the first place?” Kenoh pointed out, grabbing a large bag of the cakes and placing them in the cart. “Will Nakajima be joining us?” He always spoke like he knew the whole time, like he had planned it from the moment he asked Kitamiya to follow after Tadasuke. 

Tadasuke always felt small in that kind of presence, but it didn’t bother him. It didn’t make him feel like he was smothered. 

“Well I told him I was making curry but…” Kitamiya responded, glancing at Tadasuke almost sheepishly, as if thanking him for the extra push. “I think he’ll come along. Just like the old days. I guess...chanko nabe sounds kind of good.” 

“So you’re off curry duty for the night. Too bad.” Haoh sighed, sliding up to push the cart next Tadasuke, shoulders brushing carefully. 

“As long as we’re drinking as well, I’m in. Cooking together sounds fun.” Nioh shot a wink at Tadasuke. 

Soya leaned over and ruffled the blonde’s hair, his force so strong that it pulled half of it out of Tadasuke’s messy bun, returning it closer to how it looked in the ring. How it looked while he was standing alongside his team. “Good pick, comrade,” he finally said, his voice warm and welcoming, like Tadasuke never needed to worry about being ranked last, about being left behind. 

And maybe that was it. Maybe in the end, the only real rule of Kongoh was simply to need a place to belong. Maybe Tadasuke was already doing just fine.

**Author's Note:**

> I just think Kongoh is neat! Happy Budokan Day! Here's to a future full of many many more Nippon Budokan shows. Let's keep following Kenoh there together~


End file.
